Styling anyone's hair for their wedding is a high-stakes ordeal. Between the pictures and expectations of the bride, the pressure is on for even the most seasoned of pros. Add over 47 million people watching on—critiquing every zoomed-in detail on Twitter—along with the actual queen of England, and that requires expertise and a resolve stronger than the best stiff-hold hairspray. But if anyone could do it, it was Serge Normant.

The legendary New York–based hairstylist has been in the industry for over 30 years and worked with his fair share of celebrity royalty. Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, Sofia Vergara, and Blake Lively are all among his clients. (He's also styled countlessGlamour covers and spreads too.) Despite the scrutiny that came with styling for the royal wedding, he swears the job was easy—mostly in part, thanks to how "chill" Meghan Markle was.

"It was such an easy morning," Normant tells Glamour. "We were just having a great time. Everything was very chill. I know it’s hard for people to believe that, but it was just really easy all around." Markle, he says, was just like any other woman getting ready to walk down the aisle. "She's a very generous, very relaxed person," says Normant. "You can't help but feel calm around her. There's something so beautiful about her energy that just makes you feel much more at ease. It really helped the process."

As Normant told reporters over the weekend, that process took all of only 45 minutes to complete. But don't get it twisted: He didn't rush it. In fact, he says the key to keeping her hair looking so natural was that they didn't overthink the style.

"We talked together a little bit before, but we wanted something that would have an easy feel to it. [Deciding on her hairstyle] actually wasn’t a huge thought process," Normant tells Glamour. "We wanted it to be something that was right for the day and that felt right for her mostly. I love when you see a picture of a bride that you can look at 10 to 20 years from now, and it still feels fresh. Between the dress, which was amazing, and the hair and makeup, there was a timeless sophistication that was also natural at the same time. I feel like if I see that picture in 10 years from now, it’ll still feel relevant."

Despite the cries of all the armchair critics on Twitter, Normant says her hair—along with those flyaways in the front—was supposed to look purposefully undone. "We both knew we wanted to do something very loose in the back and soft in the front," he says. "And of course, it had to work with both the veil and the tiara, so I didn’t want too much volume on the top. I know everyone’s fixating on the word messy, but it was more like unstructured volume. A low bun in the back with dimension. I love it when a bun has asymmetry here or there, like one side is bigger than the other. I wanted it to feel almost like she did it herself."

The trick, he says, is all in the product—or rather, using just enough but not too much. "The thing is never to load your hair too much with products," he says. Do it, and you'll end up weighing your hair down or giving it that crunchy look. For Meghan, who's hair is semiwavy (it's rumored that she gets keratin treatments), his goal was to bring out some of the natural bend in the front pieces of her updo using a one-inch curling iron. "When you overcurl them or give them a shape that’s too unnatural, that’s when it starts to look promlike," says Normant. "It’s that loose feel you want to have—just a little bend. You can use a texturizer to give it more separation, which will also help it stay in place." He also recommends using a dry oil on the ends to add shine back in if your hair is on the drier side.

He's also got a hack for if you've accidentally overcurled those front pieces: "Keep a little heat on it for a second, then stick it behind your ear so it cools down. That way, when you untuck it, it has that kind of loose wave to it." While he can't share the exact products he used (royal rules), I can personally attest that his Dream Big Volumizing Spray and Meta Sheer Dry Oil Finishing Spray are fantastic.

But let's get back to that tiara. Because if you're anything as curious as I am, you've definitely wondered how heavy that thing is. Turns out, it's surprisingly not. "It's not that bad," Normant says of its weight. "I mean, it was a beautiful, beautiful piece. It was a dream to work with it. Now I wish every girl I have to work with from now on would have a tiara, because it was just so amazing. She showed it to me, and I loved it instantly. It’s from 1932, can you imagine? It’s that old. And it looks beyond. It fit perfectly on her."

Once the tiara and veil were on, that was that. There was no more futzing or touch-ups. Normant sent her off in her car to the church and got himself a seat to watch the ceremony. "It was magical," he says. Indeed, it was.